A federal judge has invalidated President Trump's dramatic fee hike on H-1B visa applications, finding that the $100,000 annual charge amounts to an unlawful tax that only Congress can impose.
US District Judge Leo Sorokin in Boston issued a 42-page ruling that vacates the fee Trump announced last September, which represented a 20-to-50 fold increase over existing rates. The decision came in a lawsuit filed by 20 Democratic state attorneys general challenging the measure.
Sorokin's core holding hinged on constitutional authority: the president cannot unilaterally levy taxes. The Constitution reserves that power exclusively for Congress. The Trump administration had attempted to justify the fee under the Immigration and Nationality Act, but Sorokin found that statute contains no such taxing authority. The judge cited a recent Supreme Court decision that dismantled key elements of Trump's tariff strategy, applying similar reasoning to the visa fee.
Trump introduced the surcharge through presidential proclamation, arguing that the H-1B program had enabled âlarge-scale replacement of American workers.â Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick claimed major tech companies supported the move and would shift focus to training domestic talent instead of hiring from abroad.
The ruling delivers a significant victory for Silicon Valley, which relies more heavily on H-1B visas than any other industry sector. Amazon secured more than 10,000 H-1B approvals in the first half of 2025, while Microsoft and Meta each exceeded 5,000 visas. The tech industry is now spared the cost of the proposed surcharge, at least for now. The Trump administration is expected to appeal the decision.
The H-1B program, created in 1990, allows US employers to hire specialty workers from abroad for up to six years. The cap sits at 65,000 visas annually, with an additional 20,000 reserved for applicants with advanced degrees. Roughly two-thirds of positions under the program are computer-related roles.
Author James Rodriguez: "The judge got the constitutional law right, but this fight isn't over; expect a fierce appeal from an administration determined to make immigration restrictions stick."
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